Warning! M18?? for mentions of Nudity and characters Getting It On. (Also, this is more like a rant than anything, to be really honest. And also ridiculously long-winded.)

Welcome back my fellow manga readers!

Today I bring to you, Gantz. This manga ended in 2013, and I suppose many of you should have heard of it at least, if you haven't read it yourself. So let's start of with some little details about Gantz, and a summary:

"Somewhere in Tokyo, there is a room. In that room is a black sphere. Periodically, people who should otherwise have died are transferred to the room. There, the sphere gives them special suits and weapons, and sends them out on a mission to kill aliens here on Earth. While these missions take place, the rest of the world is largely oblivious to them. These missions are lethal--few participants survive them. The sphere calls the shots, and it's not the slightest bit nice. Its name... Gantz."

Okay, did you get all that? Now Gantz comes in 'arcs'. Well, not really story arcs like those of One Piece or Naruto, but close enough. Or maybe it would be better to label them as story fights. In any case, let's get started.

First, this is the one manga that has got me so brain fried I can barely resist the urge to fling my phone across the room every time a chapter ends. Also, I was 145 chapters into Gantz and I still had no clue what is going on. I mean, yeah, I know that the characters are supposed to be dead and they aren't really dead, and they get sent to a room once in every few days, and then they have to wear weird suits and fight aliens, but what in the world is going on??? Not to mention this is also one of the slowest paced manga I've ever read.

Right at the beginning we see the Protag being a lil shit to an old granny, which automatically makes me hate him. And then the manga begins with the introductions to the starting characters, and all the backstory that is almost pointless because I still don't understand anything. Or maybe I'm just an idiot. Long story short, they have to kill aliens, and each kill scores them points. When they get a hundred points, they can 'go home.' It doesn't even say how they can 'go home' until like 200plus chapters later, in which we find out going home is not the only option after collecting 100 points.

Confused enough yet? It gets a lot more confusing as the manga progresses, trust me.

So, first fight! The Onion and the Ogre! (16 Chapters)

The first fight is kind of like a trial run for the readers, you know, if you can stand gore and all that. Not so much on horror though, I mean, yeah it is horrifying how so many people are killed, but more bloody and gut splattering. The first fight is also for you to understand the schematics of the 'hunt',

which makes almost no sense, but there's no explanation for that. It basically runs you through on how the black suits/ armor works, how the guns work, when does the 'hunt' end, etc. It also shows you the 'hunting grounds'. If you pass the border, your head explodes. Gross.

So the first fight is against some Onion Alien, which is so weird because they encounter the alien almost immediately. In fact, they encounter all the aliens almost immediately. Aren't they supposed to go hunt down the aliens? They're called Hunters for a reason. no? Sheesh. But anyhow they kill the alien that they're supposed to, and then the boss alien appears, which is some sort of really ugly ogre, I swear. And then a whole lot of blood and guts later, the fight finally ends and the survivors are sent back to the room with the black ball, and after receiving their points, are allowed to go back to the real world for a bit.

This bit here, the going back to the real world, is seriously messed up. Firstly, they died. And then we find out they are not actually dead. And then after hunting down aliens, they are released back to the real world if they survive. If they died during the hunt, they are really dead. So what, it's like a second chance?

I'm going to pause here and say something. There was a suicide case that appeared as one of the participants. Since she was a suicide case, I'm going to assume that she did not want to live. And then after suddenly meeting the Protag's 'best friend' who did something nice for her (which is just giving her a jacket so she can cover up her naked body), she suddenly decides she has something to live for.

What. The. Heck.

(Also this manga is more scenes than dialogue, geez.)

A whole of boring things later, like the Protag being a horny shit and wanting to go at it like rabbits with the naked suicide girl, the original survivors are summoned back for fight two, this time with added participants who recently died. Another note here: how exactly does the Gantz decide when to call them back? When there's a certain amount of participants? Or after a certain amount of days? Ugh.

Fight two! Kill the Birds with no stones! (23 Chapters)

gross

This is so messed up, I can't even remember how many times I've mumbled that to myself as I snuggled up in my blankets and wasted my night away. So, they're supposed to find and kill a human looking robot alien or something, and then it turns out that the human look robot alien is something like a shell for weird birds. Oh god, that's super gross. Anyway, the participants didn't know that there were more robot aliens, and that there was a Bird Boss. Killing each little human robot bird grants you 5 points, which I have no bloody idea why the participants take so long to kill one, Why!! You have a gun. Just blast them to bits already! The aliens don't even attack you in the beginning. How many can you kill before they start attacking you, huh???

It is during this arc that we find out the suits can actually spoil/ run out of power. What power, you ask. The suits allow the humans an extra surviving chance, giving them super physical strength, increasing their attack, defense, jump, all that. Definitely doesn't increase luck and intelligence, though. /snickers

A lot of screaming of names later, the survivors are sent back to the room, scored according to their performances, and sent back to the real world.

Fight Number Three! Buddha's Rage (34 Chapters)

What is this..... Never mind that the aliens are getting bigger, they are also getting harder to defeat. In this arc we see the Protag being a super pain in the butt. Actually everyone is a pain in the butt. This fight drags on forever, and once again there is a Boss that needs to be defeated. Okay, back up. Before they are sent into every hunt, Gantz will give them useless information on the alien they're supposed to hunt, but it seems like those aliens are only minions, and not the boss. Okay? Okay.

In this arc, the minions are the huge ass statues that you normally see flanking the entrances of a temple. Like the lions for a chinese temple? Yep, those, except not lions. And for this boss, it is a Buddha statue that is insanely fast and has an insane number of arms what the heck. It has lasers too, which literally obliterates everything in its path. It can regenerate as well.

boss

laser! and see the useless protag

This is the arc where literally everyone dies except for the Protag. And the Protag was pretty much out of action for more than half of the fight. He only survived because of his best friend, seriously. And why are all the girls so useless in the fights! All they do is cry and whimper.

Another thing, if you get thrown into a weird ass hunt, and someone obviously more experienced tells you to wear the suit so that you won't get killed, WHY WON'T YOU WEAR IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET KILLED? Also, it feels like only the Protag has the will to survive. The rest of them are losers, no joke. Okay fine, I would probably also die real fast if I were thrown in that situation too, but still.

Fourth Fight! Aliens with Wings??? (13 Chapters)

This one was more than messed up. Up till now, we have never seen any alien encounters after the hunt has ended, but in this arc, the hunter becomes the hunted. Basically since the Protag is all by his lonesome now, he didn't manage to kill all the aliens and the last one has come to hunt him down to avenge his comrades. Also, in this arc, we learn that if the timer runs out before all the aliens/ the boss has died, your points get reset to 0.

Fight Break: Mass Murder! (17 Chapters)

After the weird aliens with wings, we get a break from all the fighting, and receive an introduction/ backstory to the new participants. Here we see there is a new transfer student, and guess what? The new transfer student has been a part of the Gantz hunters before! What. The. Heck.

And guess what? Apparently he has been given an order of sorts by Gantz, to collect more participants for the next hunts. Aaaand, this new lil bastard has decided that the best way to do that is to go on a mass murdering spree in Shinjuku. Wow. Talk about insanity.

So he paints himself up to be a black dude (racist!) but it makes sense, because they'll be looking for a black dude and not a japanese dude. Anyhow, fast forward to the end of the slaughter, the scene changes back to the room with Gantz, and this is super ridiculous because it's not overflowing with people. I mean, considering the fact that he mass-murdered, the room should be overcrowded, but it's not. So what, does it mean that the people who are given this 'second chance' have to fulfill a certain criteria? Okay, fine, it's just a manga, I shan't think so deeply into it. Fight Five! Jurassic Park! (26 Chapters)

Here, the participants are transported to Chiba, and as usual, no one listens and wears their suits, so KO for them in a lil bit. The Protag is missing his suit, and therefore super vulnerable, but since he's the Protag and his Will to Live is super duper strong, he survives and scores the highest amongst them all. /slow clapsAnyway, in this fight we are introduced to Vampires. Yep you read right. Vampires. As if the manga wasn't confusing enough. These Vampires apparently have the ability to see the Hunters, given that the normal humans can't see anything at all. Also have no idea why the Vampires have beef with the Hunters, but they're trying to kill the Hunters so, goodbye logic.

gross

Fight Seven! Knights and Horses (wow, only 4 Chapters this time!)

This one is ridiculously fast. 8 giant knights on horses are taken down in only four chapters! Wow! But okay, that's besides the point. Fight Eight! Is this a Human? (11 Chapters!)

This fight here, this is the main point. Somehow or another, the hunt this time is not for an alien, but for the Protag's girlfriend. I suppose it's Gantz's way of punishing the Protag for pointing a gun at Gantz after the Buddha chapter when he realizes everyone else is gone. But yeah, so the hunt is on! The Hunters are split into two groups now, one that doesn't mind killing the girlfriend, and obviously Protag's team, which doesn't want to kill the girlfriend.

oh no much sad many cries

Honestly if it was me I'd just go straight for the girl. What's the point. Even if Protag broke up with her, she's still involved either way. Sure the girlfriend doesn't deserve it, but if she's going to have to die anyway, I'd rather be the one to kill her and get the points. Guilt's still on me whether I get the points or not, so I'd rather get the points. Sigh, I'm so heartless.

So, after a draining battle of emotions, the girlfriend is dead, and also worth 30 points! After this fight we find out that after gaining 100 points, the options you have are not only being allowed to return to your original life with your memory wiped, but you can either choose a powerful weapon, or have a person revived. Obviously the Protag is all like "I'm going to get a hundred points so I can revive my girlfriend!"Fight Nine! Vampire Hunters! (27 Chapters)

So, the Hunters go up against weird Oni Aliens, and the boss is super duper strong, but as usual, no one comes close to the Protag. So the Protag and the Hunters win, but here's where things start to finally speed up a little. Remember how I mentioned each hunt has a time limit, and normal humans can't see them? Up till here, that was true. During this fight however, we find out that the time limit has somehow been cut off, and suddenly everyone in the entire world can see them fighting and all that. Also, Protag's brother is a Vampire. No explanation for that, although it was hinted that the Vampire thingy is like a virus, so anyone can get it. So much of a coincidence that the Protag's brother is on the other side, eh?

Anyway, scoring time, and almost everyone gets past 100 points. Using their own wishes, Protag's friends revive the girlfriend, an annoying little prick from Fight 1, and Protag's best friend, also from Fight 1. After that, his friends urge him to go back to the real world, which means erasing his memories. And he agreed. So goodbye Protag, for now. Break! So now that the Protag is back in the real world, with no memories of what happened. he's back to his somewhat shitty self. After a run in with his girlfriend who also has no memory, and all that, he finds that he's forgetting something important. Cue Protag trying to find the missing pieces and wanting to go back to the Hunters. Oh. My. Goodness. I stopped reading here because I gave up. My head is about to burst. If the Protag does go back to the Hunters, which I think he definitely will, I will vomit blood. That is a waste of 100 points, well, 138 (or close) points, since I'm sure the points also get wiped. You could have used that 100 points for a better weapon, dumbass.

that's how i feel

I suppose it's just as well that I stopped, or this rant will be even longer, and I'm sure I'm starting to be a bore. Well, it's not that Gantz is boring, it's just too slow paced for me, and too many plot holes as well. I suppose there is some sort of lesson behind it. If you ask me, the only 'lesson' I've taken from Gantz is that humans are harder to kill than cockroaches. Plus they get incredibly vicious when their lives are threatened, and will probably do anything to survive, even sacrificing a limb or even another human. It might probably get better in the later chapters but for now I'm going to put this manga on hold. Tata for now! Written by: ninetylives

I.O.E.A

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